Editing Waldensians (section)

=== Religious freedom after the French Revolution ===

[[File:Iscrizione tempio valdese 4 novembre Roma.jpg|thumb|left|Waldensian Church entrance in Rome, Italy]]
After the [[French Revolution]], the Waldenses of Piedmont were assured liberty of conscience and, in 1848, the ruler of Savoy, King [[Charles Albert of Sardinia]], granted them civil rights.

Enjoying religious freedom, the Waldensians began migrating outside their valleys. By the time of [[Italian unification]], the Waldensian had congregations throughout the peninsula, some originated by preaching, others by migration.<ref>Giorgio Spini (1971), ''L'Evangelo e il berretto frigio'' (Storia del movimento evangelico in Italia, Vol.{{nbsp}}I), Claudiana, Turin</ref> However, poverty, societal discrimination, and demographic pressure led the Waldensians to emigrate, first as seasonal workers to the French Riviera and Switzerland, and later to [[Colonia Valdense]] in Uruguay, [[Jacinto Aráuz]] in [[La Pampa Province|La Pampa]], [[Argentina]] and ultimately, to the United States.<ref>Watt, George B. (1941), ''Waldenses in the New World'', Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press</ref> Those who remained in Italy have experienced upward social mobility. Waldensian companies dominated Turin's chocolate industry for the latter half of the nineteenth century and are generally credited with the invention of [[Gianduja (chocolate)|gianduja]] (hazelnut chocolate).<ref>Bächstädt-Malan Camusso, Christian (2002), "Per Una Storia dell'Industria Dolciaria Torinese: il Caso Caffarel", p.{{nbsp}}63, Doctoral thesis (Economics and Business), Universitá degli Studi di Torino</ref>

Waldensian scholarship also flourished in the nineteenth century. Copies of the [[Occitan language|Romaunt]] version of the [[Gospel of John]] were preserved in Paris and Dublin. The manuscripts were used as the basis of a work by [[William Stephen Gilly]] published in 1848, in which he described the history of the New Testament in use by the Waldensians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gilly |first=William Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NurxD-25FMYC |title=The Romaunt Version of the Gospel According to St. John... with an Introductory History of the Version of the New Testament, Anciently in Use Among the Old Waldenses... |date=1848 |publisher=J. Murray |publication-place=London |language=en}}</ref> The Waldensian College began training ministers in 1855, first in [[Torre Pellice]]. A few years later, the Waldensian College relocated to [[Florence]] and, in 1922, to Rome. Economic and social integration have eased acceptance of ethnic Waldensians into Italian society.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022|reason=Are there any sources for Waldensians being an ethnoreligious group?}} Writers like [[Italo Calvino]] and politicians like [[Domenico Maselli]] and [[Valdo Spini]] are of Waldensian background. The church has also attracted intellectuals as new adherents and supporters and enjoys significant financial support from non-adherent Italians.

In 2015, after a historic visit to a Waldensian Temple in [[Turin]], [[Pope Francis]], in the name of the Catholic Church, asked Waldensian Christians for forgiveness for their persecution. The Pope apologized for the Church's "un-Christian and even inhumane positions and actions".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-22 |title=Francis asks forgiveness for Waldensian persecutions, killings |url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-asks-forgiveness-waldensian-persecutions-killings |access-date=2021-02-14 |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}}</ref>